


Day Too Soon

by Anonymous



Series: Inside a Mind of Clouded Sky [2]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Amnesia, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Memory Loss, Mutual Masturbation, NSFW, Sex, Slow Build, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:51:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 17,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7795285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the past lost to her after the accident Thea lives in the now, and in the now she loves Dan and wants to be with him. But just because you don't remember the past doesn't mean it's not still out there waiting for you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pick me up in your arms

She was humming some tune she didn’t know but that wasn’t uncommon for her.

There were many things she didn’t know.

Music being the least of them.

But she hummed and drew in the man who came up behind her, placing his arms around her waist, bending down low (considering his towering height) to put his chin on her shoulder.

“Morning beautiful~”  
“You’re in a good mood this morning” She puts her hands on his and leans into him swaying side to side.  
“Tell me what happened yesterday.” He asks. 

She closes her eyes and keeps swaying thinking and letting the memories open to her, a task simple for many but a little hard for her.  
“It was New Years, Barry went out with a lady, did we see her?”  
“No”  
“Oh good, I couldn’t remember. We ordered take out I got… Something spicy considering my breath this morning. You got… I don’t know probably something bland and gross.”  
That got her a poke in the side making her squirm and giggle.  
“Anything else?”  
“I think we watched the Godfather but I don’t remember any of it so I wouldn’t mind watching it again eventually.”

The man’s swaying starts to slow and she can feel his body tighten, sensing his smile get a little worried.  
“Anything else?” He prompts.

“Nothing important, I mean I vaaaaguely recall making out with some guy on the sofa but I dunno if it’s anything to really write home abou-“ She squealed as a set of teeth nipped teasingly at her neck and that “some guy” raked his fingers over her middle tickling her mercilessly. 

“Some guy? Some GUY?” He turns her around smiling impishly fingers braced threateningly against her sides. “Who was this SOME GUY making out with My Thea?”  
“I couldn’t help myself, he was super hot.”  
“Oh REALLY?”  
“I hear on good authority, he’s Jewish too.”  
He gasped. “No!”  
“Yeah, I just can’t remember his name at all.” She tapped a finger to her mouth pretending to think hard. “I’m sure it started with a D… Dave? Don? Damien? Y’know I feel like it might have been Dick.”

“You’ll be getting that alright.” He leaned in bumping his head against hers touching noses.  
“Oh now I remember.” She crossed the rest of the space between them to press a sweet kiss to his lips. “Dan~”

Dan smiled against her lips kissing her again, pressing her into the counter trying to find an angle that worked for their gap in heights but not quite able to get one that allowed for his neck and back not to be stooped.

“God why are you so fucking short.”  
“I’m sorry I can’t be a damn long neck… Uh… fuckin…” She covered her eyes and put one hand up in the air making her fingers open and close like it was a mouth.

“Duck? Crane? Brachiosaurus? Giraffe?”  
“Yes! Fuck you, you giraffe.”

Dan snorted stooping for one last kiss  
“What do you want to do today?”  
“I know no one else is around but I would like to at least go through the motions of getting back onto my usual schedule, I’m feeling fuzzy as hell after that trip. I feel like I’m stalling out a lot in my head.”  
“Okay but I would like to make a little change to your usual routine.” He added moving to the fridge and taking a whiteboard marker to write something out on a few of the days.

Thea looked over his shoulder and covered her mouth to hide the happy smile there.

He’d added daily kisses and weekend date nights.

“You nerd.”


	2. Promise you wont hold me down

Things got back onto schedule shortly after New Years.  
Different but in a good way.

Everyone came back to work and while it wasn’t something we announced (after all who proclaimed they were dating outside of grade school?) it swept through the office by the first day that Dan and I were a thing. To those that asked and I told directly I got a few “Finally” alongside the “Good for your guys!” which I can blame my fuzzy brain for not noticing, but I suppose we had been dancing around it long enough. 

Things were becoming a new kind of normal, although there was a new anxiety eating at me since Dan was still in the process of moving out. He’d finally found a place that he liked a little North of where we were already living, not so far that it really made anything different or inconvenient but I don’t like change. (A bit odd considering how at work every day brought new and weird challenges and nothing was ever the same twice and yet when it came to the house or everything else I was more stubborn than a mule when it came to the idea of anything new.)

I guess a part of it was the wondering if I should stay or go with him.

Barry was fine with having me take over as a roommate, the house was almost paid off and he could handle the rest of the payments on his own considering how well things had been going with the Game Grumps. But I also didn’t want to get in the way of him and his new girlfriend as I still had a habit of sleeping on the sofa more often than not and having him in and out of the house staying the occasional night at her place kind of ruffled my balance. Last thing anyone needed was me acting like an ass towards his ladyfriend because she stayed the night and I couldn’t remember who she was or why she was there.

But Dan hadn’t asked me if I wanted to live with him which left me in a bit of a tangle.

“I mean I guess it doesn’t surprise me because it would be a big change for him to be living with a girlfriend, like with a big official moving in together official move.” I found myself venting to Suzy while she experimented with my nails and some new product she was testing.

“Really?” She said “I don’t think so, I mean you guys have already been living together forever already. You know he’s almost as absent minded as you, he probably just forgot to ask and just before he leaves he’ll remember and be all puppy eyes and last minute scrambles to get you over.”

“Well that and there’s always the possibility he did ask me in passing and I just don’t remember and now I’m gonna be the dick who’s not ready to go.”

Suzy shrugged and made a bit of a face that non-verbally said ‘yeah there’s that too’ but didn’t want to state the obvious. “Considering that possibility you really should ask if he wants you there, I mean I am already 99.9% positive he does but maybe he’s just being a baby about it too. It took the two of you how long to hook up already?”  
“Shush your face, we just took our time waiting for the right moment.”  
“Mm-hmm. Sure.” She rolled her eyes and I would have lightly smacked her if my fingers weren’t still wet. “So on the topic of boy talk and memory, do you remember any of your ex boyfriends or girlfriends?”  
“Pieces. Sometimes. Maybe. It’s hard for me to tell if I’m remembering Dan or remembering something older. I can recall some weird kisses that I’m pretty sure were not Dan like I remember someone licking my mouth in a way that I wasn’t comfortable with or an ear kiss that ended with a sloppy tongue right IN my ear but I’m quite positive those were the same person and neither was Dan but then again… He is kinda a weirdo sometimes so maybe I am just having faded memories of something he did.”  
Suzy laughed nodding her head “It is Dan we’re talking about so who knows. How have things been with him?”

“Really good. He’s super patient, really good at noticing when my mind is wandering or pulling back when I start to feel uncomfortable. I mean on one hand I feel like such a baby about how I’m acting like I know I’m at least thirty-something I shouldn’t be as shy and uptight about touching and having sex as I am, but at the same time… I legitimately don’t remember ever having sex before. I mean what if I haven’t? What if I was one of those people who wanted to wait until I was married or I was just really, really socially awkward and never dated anyone? What if something bad happened to me and I was repressing this stuff before and being with Dan triggers that and ruins everything?”

“Aww sweetie, it’s ok. Dan wouldn’t push you into anything you’re not going to be comfortable with you’re not going to ruin anything between you two, you know he loves you to bits right?”  
“Yeeaa.” I can’t help but smile and feel my face go warm. For as goofy and dorky and as much of a pain in the ass he could be at times Dan was also a ray of sunshine and loveable as a cuddly puppy. He didn’t have my hangups about affection and was very openly loving with his words and actions. From the earliest memories I could recall of him I’d always felt loved in them in one manner or another.

“In any case, don’t be scared to talk to Dan about it. Like you said you are at least thirty-something-“  
“Well as far as I legitimately know I’m 12.”  
“Based on that picture we found you’ve gotta be over 25 at least, but anyway you’re OLD-“  
“Thanks.”  
“And that means you’ve got no excuse not to act the adult and maturely discuss your feelings with Dan about these things if you’re feeling bothered by them.”  
“Ugh, is that what maturity entails? I don’t think I like this whole ‘old’ thing.”

Suzy gave me a blank look and slowly shook her head.   
“I’m gonna push you off the bed now.”


	3. (NSFW) I will fit you in my heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO STAYED UP AGAIN ALL NIGHT WRITING?  
> Goddamn this story has become my guilty pleasure.

Dan was patient and he was kind. It wasn’t in his nature to pressure anyone to do something they truly didn’t want to do and he certainly had no urge to do that to a woman he had feelings for. 

So he had no issues stopping when innocent kisses would get a little steamier and Thea seemed to freeze. Paying attention for when her hands would stop grabbing at his shirt and instead flatten, not pushing away but not pulling him closer was enough for him to slow and ease away. 

It would be a lie to say he didn’t have sexual feelings, that his dick wasn’t a little sad every time he did this. But, he’d been with Thea through every step of learning how her own mind worked and how no matter how frustrating her brain might be for those around her that it was a million times worse for her. He might have the occasional fuzzy memory from back in his weed smoking days but he still couldn’t imagine not knowing his own name, waking up and not remembering a single step in the series of incidences that got him to where he was, losing an hour or day or week without realizing it and never getting that time back.

If she rushed even a step into something that she didn’t want, woke up one morning feeling confused and used and he was the cause of that.

He’d genuinely throw himself off a bridge.

So she slept in her own room and he slept in his, his hands had not touched any skin higher than her ribs or lower than her belly button, and although the whole relationship felt very much like ones he’d had in grade school with innocent touches full of uncertainty and inexperience, he felt strangely satisfied with it too.

Probably because unlike when he was in school the two of them somewhat had a level of maturity that allowed for more communication instead of bumbling around hoping not to hurt the other’s feelings.

Thea knew full well that he eventually wanted to have sex with her, not just by sensing it but she’d point blank asked one day and while he’d tripped over the question at first he told her the truth.  
But that also he had no problem with waiting until she was 100% behind it too. He’d go as slow as she wanted, maybe even slower just to make sure that her feeling of want wouldn’t be one that would slide away.

In a way it was driving her as crazy as it was somewhat driving him.

Pieces of her memory would slide away, questions she’d asked him and feelings she might have in a moment that would be gone without recollection the next. But as each kiss became a solid moment in her mind, fleeting touches and burning wants stayed hot over days bleeding into weeks she found herself using those memories to experiment at night almost as often as Dan was.

“Dan? Are you up?” There was a soft knock on his door before it opened and Thea’s head poked in.   
It wasn’t that late, although unlike Dan or Barry she tended to keep a more scheduled bedtime and it was past that time now, Dan was finalizing some mixes and fully intended to be up most likely the rest of the night obsessively tweaking every little thing until he couldn’t stand it any longer and sent them to Brian.

“Yeah I’m awake, what’s up lovely? Is something wrong?” Sitting up from where he was on his bed Dan pulled off his headphones and closed his computer offering her his full attention since this was out of character for her which made him worry a little.  
“Nothings wrong I just…” Now she looked nervous, hovering in the doorway not sure if she wanted to come in or leave. “I— Well I was just thinking about how the other day when we were in the kitchen and I was on the counter and we were kissing. And I’ve kind of had that in a loop in my head for the last like three nights and thinking about if y’know we hadn’t stopped and what, uh, what that might feel like and so I um.” Her heart was pounding a mile a minute and that Dan had put his laptop to the side and was just sitting there with folded hands in a relaxed position of amusement made her face burn. 

“Were you touching yourself thinking of me?” His voice was light and teasing, he was making a little joke which then surprised him a little when Thea looked him right in the eye and said.  
“Yes.”

“What? Really?” 

She broke eye contact and shrugged pulling down the hem of her tank top.   
“Like you can talk, I know what you’re doing when you listen to music without your headphones on, we share a wall and you’re not quiet.”  
“I—! Well— That!” That got him back-pedalling into a fit of embarrassed giggles. “Well you’re my girl so of course we’re gonna masterbate while thinking of one another, that’s natural.”  
“Well I’d like it to stop.”

Dan cocked his head to the side not quite understanding. 

“I… Want /you/ to touch me.”

Crossing his long legs, sitting up fully Dan looked a bit serious and a bit of something else, keeping a lid on things that he wanted but letting himself hope just a little that maybe she wanted it too.

“Are you sure?”  
“I know I’ve been thinking about it for a pretty long time.” She offered, which keeping a consistent desire longer than a few hours was a pretty clear indication of how much she wanted him.

He smiled, not quite a goofy grin, not shy, but some combination with a dash of him just being pleased to hear her say that. Tilting his head he invited her closer, taking her hand as she approached the side of his bed, not pulling her but guiding her as he uncrossed his legs and she straddled his lap.

“Would you like to kiss me?” He asked now that she was there, sitting pretty on his hips, holding hands, fingers interlocked, watching her face as she licked her lips.  
“May I?”  
“Please.”  
Thea leaned in, balanced by their hands, placing a chaste closemouthed kiss on his lips. He could smell the orange chapstick she liked and deepened the kiss just a little to get a taste of it, encouraging her to follow suit, open her own mouth, touching her tongue to his, inviting him to explore. 

Inviting more than just his mouth she put his hands on her hips, unlocking their fingers and placing her hands on his, guiding them to push up her tank top, sitting up off his hips while she gently pulled one of his hands to the edge of her pyjama pants letting his fingers dip below the elastic band to the lip of her underwear.

He pulled back a little, placing his free hand on her cheek so he could look at her face, eyes flicking over her, checking to make sure she was all there, focused on him.  
“You want this?” He asked softly a single finger slipping below the elastic of her underwear, grinning as she pushed his hand even lower sighing. “Please.”

Dan’s breath became just as laboured as Thea’s as he felt how wet she was, mimicking her softer sighs with his own louder ones as his fingers slid between her folds causing her breath to hitch and her hips to sway. 

“Ah-ah-ah, eyes on me.” His fingers slowed when her eyes shut, whispering for her to open them again, watching as her face flushed, eyes on him, mouth falling open letting out tiny, breathy moans.   
“Do you like this?”   
“I do, I do, I do.” Thea moaned grabbing a fistful of his shirt, resting her forehead to his, trying to keep eye contact while one of his long fingers slid inside her, crooking forward, and it was fast, too fast but the sensation of his fingers, the gentle brush of his thumb over her sensitive clit took her over the edge.

Coming with a startled cry Dan stills his fingers, letting her rock gently against them, riding out the sensation, slowly relaxing against his chest. Thea grips his shirt a little tighter when he shifts to pull his fingers out of her, turning his head to suck them clean, his own eyes falling close while he savours the taste of her.

Lips press against Dan’s neck, cheek, and finally to his mouth in chaste butterfly kisses.  
“Thank you.” She mumbles, putting her head back under his chin, her own hands now wandering, a little uncertain, bushing lower to pluck at the hem of his t-shirt.  
“Mm~ You are /very/ welcome but—“ Dan pulls her hand away, kissing the fingertips. “You don’t need to do that, not until you’re ready.”   
One final kiss to the palm of her hand Dan hugged her close with one arm, shifting to put his computer off to the side of the bed where it would hopefully not get stepped on in the morning before rolling Thea off him, cuddling her against him.

“Go to sleep princess.”   
“Dan?”  
“Mm-hm?”  
“I love you.”  
“I love you too darlin’”


	4. when we reach a good place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter. Sorry :/

It was a rough week for everyone.

Barry had a feeling things would turn out this way, coming home finding Thea lost amongst Dan’s boxes confused about what was going on half the time and hiding in her room the other half.

She wasn’t upset with Dan. Barry had even sat in on enough of their conversations about the move needing to explain it to her again and again, but stress and big changes didn’t agree with her.  
Things would move, the house would change, her eyes would cloud over and mind reset.

Still they were all in agreement that this was the best for everyone.

Dan was better with her on Thea’s ‘bad days’ than Barry was. He would notice the moment they started, giving Barry a heads up while it would take a few days before the younger man even realized that Thea had gotten quieter, more distant, off her schedule.  
Dan was better at coaxing her back into balance, checking she was taking her medication, bullying her to her therapist. There were parts of him that responded and understood those darker parts of hers and how to bring light to them than Barry understood.

It was one of the big reasons he didn’t even feel remotely put out that Dan and her had gotten together. As the move stressed her out and Barry started to see how bad she could get he felt deep stabs of guilt that he was glad he wasn’t the one who had to deal with it. He was a patient man but he wasn't sure if he was that patient.

Still he was sad when the house became quiet. No more being woken up to laughter in the kitchen, no more being harassed by lewd jokes, no more Dan and Thea in the house.

Barry looked out the window and cracked it open, the house still smelling a bit like dust from the move, feeling a little empty from the loss of stuff. 

Spring was here, and all the changes with it.


	5. Carry me away from harm

I was gone for a while, gasping as water went over my head, lost in the rapids of time moving forward, grasping at thin scraps of everyday.

My room, his room, bathroom, kitchen.

I felt terrible, I knew it was too much for Dan, I didn’t want him to have to take off time from work, not for this, not for me.

His room, kitchen, bathroom… 

My chest would keep tightening, fear crushing me, I didn’t know if an hour had passed, a day, a week, a month, I was lost, gone, useless…

Kitchen… Bathroom… Where? Where? What…

“Thea? Hey lovely, hey. Look at me, look here.”   
It was Dan, it was Dan, I knew Dan. I clung to him like a lifeline, the only thing I knew in a place I didn’t recognize anymore.  
“Breathe, that’s it just breathe in… And out… Good girl that’s it, just in… and out… What’s my name?”  
“Dan.”  
“Good, good girl and what’s your name?”  
“Thea” I used to hesitate on this answer, but no longer. I was Thea now, just Thea, his Thea.  
“That’s right. Where are we?”  
“We’re…” I took a deep breath and held it, eyes breaking from his to look around the room. I could remember his stuff, some of the things scattered around the room, nothing where I liked it to be but familiar. Conversations and knowledge flowed back to me sluggish and fighting it’s way to the surface. “We’re… It’s— It’s the new house.”

Dan looked genuinely surprised but happy, running his fingers through my hair.   
“How long have we been here?”  
My breath caught, anxiety flooding in, how long had we been here, I knew I’d lost time but how much? I could remember fragmented pieces of the move, but not much.  
“Two… Days?” I offered hopefully hating to see how Dan’s face fell even by just a fraction.  
“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s been four, just four really busy, stressful, but boring days.”  
“We’ve been missing work haven’t we?”  
“Little bit, it’s Tuesday, we went in to the office for a minute yesterday, Monday, on the way to the therapist. Do you remember talking to Dr. Montgomery?”

I felt bad knowing that I’d pulled Dan away from work, I could remember, before the move, he’d been working extra hard to prepare for it. And here I was useless and taking his time and—  
“Hey!” Dan’s large hands were on my shoulders again giving me a shake snapping me back to now. “Don’t drift, stay here. Do you remember seeing the Doc yesterday.”  
“No…” I could feel my lip quiver and I tried not to cry, it was frustrating, coming back to some form of awareness realizing time had been lost, where was I those days? What I useful? Was I happy? Did anything bad happen? Anything good?

I slipped again for a few moments, realizing I was against Dan’s chest, soothing circles being rubbed over my back while he murmured gentle assurances. I sniffed, I had been crying, and not knowing why just bubbled up a new wave of tears.

“I’m sorry, god I’m sorry.”  
“Shhh, no baby, no, it’s not your fault, it’s okay. It’s just a bad day, we’re okay.”

I knew it would pass.  
I hoped it would pass.

It couldn’t rain everyday.

Right?


	6. I know you're just one good man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a lighter chapter, always short, really each story segment is more like a chapter in itself. No more sads for the rest of the story don't worry. But depression is something that is going to be in Thea's life for a while. I mean when we come up against hardships we've got our memories of experiencing things to help us, remembering friends and family and that rainy days have passed, but a lot of those Thea doesn't have so she spirals fast because she has no memory to support her that things are going to be okay and she feels bad depending so hard on Dan. She constantly feels like she's taking a test she didn't study for and is failing so anxiety is pretty consistent.

“How’s Thea lately?” Arin asked Dan in between recording sessions.  
They’d generally agreed that after the initial call to action months ago in order to try and find out her identity they wouldn’t really talk about her on the show. Not that she was a topic they specifically avoided like politics, but that generally speaking her life with them would be a little extra privet since the last thing she needed was any negative attention.  
Arin had though to ask mid through the session, but held onto the question until they stopped.

“Better.” Dan sighed leaning back onto the sofa. Since the move she hadn’t come into work and it had been a few weeks now. She was still doing general work for the the Game Grumps “brand” and so was still receiving her wage from them, but she was mostly working with Suzy, doing some light editing with KKG or helping Holly with making props for NSP videos. Dan was encouraging it since…  
“I’m a little worried since we’ve got all that convention stuff coming up and no one’s going to really be at the office and she’s still having a bit of trouble with the new house and it’s—“

He made a face and ran his hands through his hair in light frustration. He wasn’t angry with her, none of it was her fault, just frustrated with how things were. In some aspects he was used to it but it was hard not to be scared and worried when someone you cared about woke up in a panic because they didn’t know where they were or what they’d been doing all week. It was hard not being able to trust or depend on the things she said or agreed to do because in a few minutes or hours she wouldn’t remember that she’d said or done anything.

And how depressed she’d get because she realized what a burden that could be not just on herself but everyone.

Not that he’d ever let her think that. He didn’t care if he did have to pull a ’50 first dates’ every single day of their life, he would take care of her.

“It’s going to be tough but she’s tough too.” Arin offered putting a hand on Dan’s back and giving him a rub, “Sucks that she can’t come with us to these events.”  
“Eh, she’d probably hate them. Too many people, it’d freak her out if anyone started talking to her because she’d never be able to tell if they were a fan or just a friend of ours. I mean remember the last time she met Mark? Scared the bo-jangles out of her because he forgot how she is and just hugged her and she didn’t remember who he was and got him right in the kidneys with her elbow.”

Arin started laughing with the memory. Mark had met Thea a few times, but not often enough that she could remember him as anything more than a fleeting sense of familiarity. She was pretty good about staying quiet and just confirming with someone in the office about who she knew or didn’t know, getting a quick rundown of their relationship before approaching someone and potentially being rude to them trying to introduce herself to someone who already thought of her as a friend. People often forgot how she was since it wasn’t really obvious and she’d picked up enough tricks to mask that anything was wrong.  
Mark was visiting the office and when she’d walked in, in a very ‘Mark’ manner the moment he saw her he’d come in for a hug, one that she didn’t see coming and had startled her into elbowing him right in the gut, dropping the much larger man.

“Yeah, we don’t want a fan tricking her into thinking they’re a friend of ours or her hitting someone who is a friend because they grab her suddenly. It’s kind of bad, but I /am/ really glad her reaction to being suddenly grabbed is to get a little punchy.” Arin mentioned making Dan laugh a little and look jokingly awkward.  
“Yeah you say that until you’re the one she smacks.”  
“Have you been getting smacked around Dan?”  
“Only when I ask real nicely~” He teased and giggled making Arin gasp scandalously before starting up the next recording.


	7. (NSFW) You'll risk all this for just a kiss

Thea wasn’t that violent, and Dan and her hadn’t gotten to the point where they were even remotely in the ballpark of being sexually experimental, or all that sexually active yet.

Dan had gotten her off a few more times at the old house, satisfied to see her writhe and softly moan his name, drinking in her pleasure and gently pushing her hands away when she timidly reached for him, satisfied to wait until she was ready.

She had her own room in the new house, arranged a lot like the old one but no two rooms were ever the same. Much like when they’d visited Dan’s parents she’d taken to the idea of sleeping next to him, having something familiar to wake up to helping to calm her, which had unintentionally become a new part of her routine.

Which meant parts of Dan’s routine of turning on music and jerking one out was both getting harder to do and more frequent. 

Thea also at times could be quiet as a ghost. Or maybe Dan just at times wasn’t very observant, jumping when he looked up and realized that the silent movement in the corner of his eye was her, startled to see her sitting in a chair sharing his space without even realizing it.

Shocked half to death when he opened his eyes, on the edge of cumming, and saw Thea there, her arms crossed, a mixed look of amusement, lust, and concentration on her face as she leaned against the doorframe of his bedroom watching him jerk off.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT THEA!” Hand off himself and pillow over his exposed crotch Dan bust out laughing his face now more red with embarrassment than effort.  
She looked at him, all wide eyed with false innocence.  
“I knocked. I thought you said ‘yeah’ but I guess you weren’t talking to me.” Head cocked to the side she smirked. “Or were you?”  
Dan just giggled harder. “This is going to be one of those things you’re not gonna forget is it?”  
“No-pe” She popped the ‘P’ grinning impishly as she moved closer. “Need a hand?”

He coughed, getting a reign on his giggle-fit. “Are you sure?”  
“Very.”

Kneeling on the bed and crawling closer she ignored the pillow at first, instead leaning in to kiss Dan’s smiling mouth, pulled in by his little laughs, nipping at his neck.   
He made an appreciative noise as her fingers dipped lower, trailing down his chest, tickling over his stomach before moving under the pillow, feeling the exposed length of him. 

“Fuck, your hands are cold.” He giggled cupping her cheek and pulling her close for small chaste kisses, not really having the breath to deepen them any further.   
Cold fingers or not his cock throbbed at her touch as she teased her fingertips down the length, delicately grasping and giving the lightest of strokes upward, just feeling him, playing with him, driving him completely insane. 

“Show me… Show me what you like.”   
Dan placed his hand over hers, adjusting her grip to one that was less teasing, setting her pace until he knew she got the hang of it.  
“I want—“ It was half a question, Dan’s hand went to the button of her jeans, a brief pause waiting for her to turn toward him, mumbling a ‘please’ against his lips before popping the button and sliding his fingers into her eager wet heat. 

Every little moan or sigh she made he echoed, mumbling sweet words of encouragement.   
“Right there.”  
“Faster”  
“Do you like that?”  
“Fuck baby, lovely, Thea.”

Dan bit his lip hard, waiting right at the edge until he felt her clench, her hand squeeze a little too tight around him, the gorgeous startled little gasp she always gave as she came pulsing around his fingers and he let himself go with a much louder, deeper moan. Nothing left but panting breaths and soft aftershocks of pleasure, a dull ache of wrists and fingers at awkward angles bringing about a feeling of even more satisfaction. 

And more laughter.

Dan looked down to see Thea didn’t think to try and catch or stem him in any way and he’d cum, probably harder than he had in a long time, hitting both of their shirts and the sheet.   
“Aww I just did the sheets yesterday.” Thea sulked. “Way to go Dan.”

He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose with a not very sorry apology.


	8. Let's be sure to leave no trace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to struggle a little with the writing. I think it's partially because I'm starting to force it along a plot-line instead of just completely free-writing it. Chapters might start to come a little slower as I finish this part up. There will probably be a final part three but I'm a little on the fence about it.

I’d decided, well we’d decided, shortly after dealing with my depression, to generally let Brent and the lawyer he’d gotten deal with everything to do with my missing persons and hit and run case. 

The stress of disrupting my day to go to the police station to go through the song and dance of dealing directly with the people there to get no answers wasn’t helpful to me, and if anything just made me feel worse about my condition. 

It had been nearly half a year since I’d gone back…

Half a year passed so fast for me, for everyone really, so much had happened. Healing from the accident, the holidays, the move, it felt like a lifetime.

I didn’t want to do anything special for it but Dan did announce that my one year anniversary of getting hit and moving in with them was coming up and since I wasn’t quite sure of the exact day of my birth, if we couldn’t treat that day as my birthday and do something for it.

I felt like birthday was more in the summer, I could remember swimming parties, ice cream cakes and pool noodles, the faded faces of children I knew logically had to be adults I would never recognize now. I knew I got a lot of books for my birthdays and could even remember the titles of my favourite ones.   
It was as wonderful as it was frustrating to have these fragments. 

Remember so much and yet nothing useful.

I didn’t know how I felt about the idea of a celebration for my accident, on one hand I’d lost my entire life that day, on the other I’d gotten Dan and Barry and Suzy and Holly and so many others in my life that made me happy…  
So Dan offered to keep it really small, just him and Barry, dinner and movies at the old house.

I got a wibbly lip and puppydog eyes until I sighed and put it into my schedule, oddly feeling a little excited for it, enough that I remembered, counting down the days on my own until my new “Birthday” 

It was almost like a first birthday for me. I could remember some old ones but my life before, those fragmented memories, felt more like dreams than anything else. Like I was remembering pieces from a book that I’d read or a very in depth daydream I’d indulged in, I could remember some of the plot and feelings but with no one or nothing to confirm it, it ultimately wasn’t real.

Dinner was more of a late lunch with a lot of snacky picnic like foods. Barry had asked me what I wanted to eat that day and I guess I’d replied “Sandwiches and grapes” albeit I don’t remember this conversation. I must have been in a particular mood at the time, but past me made a good call as it was nice to just munch on chips or fruit while watching whatever the guys wanted to watch. (I just liked movies, although it was a coin toss if I could remember what we’d just watched five minutes after watching it. I tended to only remember movies that I either grossly enjoyed for whatever weird reason since it was a strange range, or ones that I deeply loathed and wouldn’t be able to sit silent without yelling at the movie, which was also a strange range.)

Midway through the second movie of whatever we were watching Dan got up to answer his cellphone not wanting to interrupt us. Untangling his body from mine I rolled onto the floor where Barry was sitting intending to harass him about his love-life but Dan’s “You’re fucking shitting me!” had us both looking to the kitchen with curiosity as he began to laugh strangely.

Barry and I looked at each other and to the kitchen, getting up and walking in to see Dan, still laughing with the phone at his ear shaking his head. It wasn’t really a “Ha ha great joke” laugh but more of a weird “I’m laughing because otherwise I’d be screaming” kind of laugh.

Looking up at me he shook his head in a disbelieving way and said something that hit my ears and vaporized before it even registered in my mind.

“Sorry what?”

He said something else, I recognized it as a name, a full three word, first, middle, and last name that caused my ears to ring like instead of speaking he was dragging nails over a chalkboard.

“Who’s that? What’s going on?” Barry asked as Dan pulled the phone from his ear.

“The lawyer just called Brent, now that the case is finished evidence is being released from holding, apparently the hospital took her jacket as evidence for the police and it was just misfiled for the longest time because there was no name on it. They…” He snorted and took a deep breath just kind of shocked that he was saying this. “They had your wallet this entire time in the pocket. Driver’s licence, Social Insurance card… Fucking everything we’ve been looking for this entire /fucking/ year! Just there! In the pocket! That some fucking dingleberry just put on a shelf and forgot about.”

Barry’s “You’re fucking with me…” Felt tinny and far away, like I was hearing him talk through a bad speaker in a tunnel. Dan said something else looking at me but I just shook my head not really hearing him and went into the living room, paced for a moment, and then went into his old bedroom still mostly empty but for a few boxes that he had yet to pick up and some stuff Barry was storing in there now.

Pacing in there I turned to leave, needing to find something familiar and seeing Dan and Barry at the door looking at me. Dan’s mouth moved but what he was saying didn’t mean anything, they were noises, flies buzzing in my ears, bait-less hooks trying to catch me but there was nothing in the words he was saying.

“Thea.” I said backing away from the two of them trying to push back the dark wave washing over me. “I’m Thea, not… not…” I waved my hand, I couldn’t even remember the name Dan kept repeating at me no matter how many times he said it, unfamiliar and jagged in his mouth.

Thea was what I knew.  
Thea was who I was now.  
Thea was the name I was given.

Not…

I didn’t know her anymore, that person, that name, it was the name of a childhood friend who had left me when I needed them the most, it was the name of someone I felt betrayed by, it was the name of a stranger who had stalked me for years.

“—Thea… Thea breathe.”

Familiar voices broke through the spiral, familiar hands on my wrists, familiar eyes looking into mine.

“I’m Thea.”  
“Yes, you’re Thea.”

“But you recognize—“ Barry said the name again and had Dan not been holding my wrists I would have bolted from it, instead I was hit by the name, letting it scrape through the scars in my brain, familiar and painful.

“Yes, she’s… Who I used to be.” I forced myself to come to some compliance, to face that reality.   
I was her.

Was.

“But I… I’m Thea now I don’t… I don’t really know that name, I’m not—“ I could hear my own voice hit a panicked edge that had Dan immediately pull me closer, rocking me side to side hushing my fears. 

“It’s okay, you’re still Thea, we got you, we got you…”

I’m Thea.

And…


	9. Promise they wont track us down

You would think that with a wallet, with all the information that the average person kept in one, that the mystery of a missing person would easily be solved by it.

And yet Thea’s wallet just created as many questions as answers.

“I’m starting to think maybe you WERE some kind of spy.” Vernon mused putting one of Thea’s ID’s back down.

Everything in the wallet was a mix of different locations and all of it was at best 2 years expired.  
She had a student ID from New York and one from Victoria in Canada.  
A state ID from Texas that expired 10 years ago and a drivers licence from Washington state that expired 3 years ago.  
No bank cards.  
No credit cards.  
Just a local library card from way out in Castaic which was an hour drive from the Glendale area where she’d been hit, but even that had expired a year before she’d been hit.

And a few mystery cards that Dan could recognize had possibly hebrew on them but he couldn’t read them at all.

It was giving a picture as to why no one had been looking for her, she never had enough roots in any one place for anyone to know she’d been missing.

Or she’d just already been missing for over a year and it was only with the hit that her potentially homeless status was becoming apparent.

Thea looked miserable.

A few chunks of memory had come scraping back with the introduction of her name, but she didn’t like it, still didn’t know that stranger who had controlled her life for all those years before. Wasn’t sure if she liked that person, scared to find out what kind of a person they were.

After all, they were a person that no one had bothered to look for.

In some manners Dan was being a bit of a jerk to her.   
Refusing to leave her alone, kicking at her chair, throwing little pieces of paper or food at her, even going as juvenile as to give little strands of her hair a light tug when he could get close to her without her noticing.

Whatever he could do when her gaze shifted away from the conversation and her eyes got that distant look. Steadfastly refusing to let her wallow in self hate for ‘not being more useful’ or whatever it was she was spinning in her head at that particular moment. He’d made an extra appointment for her at the therapist to get her to talk out her feelings but until then he had no problems being a grade school bully if it meant she’d feel pissed off at him instead of pity for herself.

“We could hire a privet investigator. Now that we have her name and all this it wouldn’t be hard to find her last place of address and old job and—“ Arin started but was cut off with a slightly surly   
“It doesn’t matter.” From Thea.  
“Hey now—“ Arin also understood and was trying not to give Thea any room to fall into a depressive cycle even if he wasn’t being as annoying as Dan was.  
“Sorry, I don’t mean it in a bad way but… Does it matter? I’m… Here now and I like working with you guys and— I’m useful aren’t I?”  
A chorus of “Yes” had her shaking her head. “Don’t— Don’t say it if I haven’t been, I mean, I know I’m not that— But if I can keep working here I’d like to and— And I like— Sorry. This is really…” She had to cover her eyes to keep from looking at people and not cry, pushing away when Dan tried to touch her refusing the comfort. “Whoever I was doesn’t matter because I’m me now and I want to be here. With all of you guys. And if you don’t want me here then that’s okay we can keep looking for someone else from before who can help me and I can go back to— To that, but if you want me here than I don’t— I don’t care who she was, I’m Thea now and I’d like to stay that way.”

“Well I want you to stay.” Barry put in immediately. “Between you and Kevin I’ve been able to work almost exclusively on my own projects and get a pretty decent social life going.”  
“Yeah, I don’t want to have to be the one responsible for sitting through rendering anymore.” Kevin agreed.   
“You’re cleaner than the rest of these monkey’s combined I don’t want you to go.” Suzy added. “We’ll never find where you’ve put half of our stuff either.”  
“And honestly for the amount of work you do we’re probably under paying you so as your employer I’m not about to complain.” Arin joked reaching out a long leg to kick at Thea’s chair trying to get a smile out of her.

It helped, hearing how they wanted her around, that she had been helpful in her own way however big or small. This time when Dan put a hand on her arm she took it and held on instead of pushing away.   
“We got you Babe, we’re not gonna make you do anything you don’t wanna do.”

“Then…” She took a deep breath. “I’d like to stop looking. This is- This is enough to have a life with,” waving at the cards in front of her, “I can get a new ID made, backfile whatever taxes I might need to, just end everything here and be me. I don’t need to know, I don’t really want to know anymore. Whoever she was disappeared a long time ago and I think I’d like to just be me.” 

“We can do that.”


	10. (NSFW) You'll tire before we see land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe 8 more chapters I can pop out before I'm going to move onto the finale story for this series.  
> Then I really want to focus a little more on either Black Hole Sun or I've got a Demon Dan X Asexual Reader story or I want to do something with Vernon cus he's a cutie patootie too.

Dan felt jittery.

He always did before conventions, excited and on edge, eager to meet fans, scared to meet fans, amazed that he had fans.

He was a little extra jittery because he was worried too. Work-life was speeding up in a way that was exiting and scary and making things really busy for him, which made him feel bad since it pulled time away from a lot of other things. He’d been doing less and less Steam Train to the point he was barely on the show any longer, he’d been meaning to sit down with Arin and Brian and really hammer out that third Starbomb album but it had taken a backseat to the latest two NSP albums and the slew of music videos they were working on, massive amounts of editing they all were working on for those. They were getting ready to hit a few conventions which would lose him quite a few chunks of free time and on top of all that was Thea.

As with any relationship they both had a laundry list of things that got on their nerves about one another, there was no such relationship in the world that didn’t. Ultimately he couldn’t complain because he was rather proud of her. While she didn’t use her legal name (hey, who was he to talk, neither did he) having it made things a lot easier for her.  
She got an ID, she could fly if she wanted to, she was an official employee now, she had a lot less anxiety about being so dependant on others. Still dark days, still bouts of doubt and depression, still panicked moments of losing herself. 

But less.

A lot less.

Some of his worry was about that. She was staying home, alone, (sure with friends to check in but still alone) for the better part of a week while the rest of the group was doing the convention. 

So Dan worried a bit, adding an extra edge to his already energetic nature, ready to jump on the first flight back if he got a text from Kati that Thea had taken a bad turn, hoping desperately that she wouldn’t because…

Because as much as he loved her he knew he didn’t have it in him to be that kind of a caretaker for her. 

The spiral with his trip to see his parents, the drop after the move, the shakeup after her wallet and identity were found. If he wanted to be honest with himself he was glad that each of these events had resulted in progressively smaller shakeups, that she was getting better because it scared him whenever she lost time, it scared him to think he might come home and she wouldn’t know him, it scared him to think there might be a day were he wouldn’t be enough to help her.

So it was a test, for him and for her. Could he do his job, the thing he’d have to do one way or another in order to support himself and those he cared about, and still depend on her to be able to take care of herself while he did that.

“So, I noticed on reddit that the Amalthea mystery page was shut down, but it was kind of vague as to why, what happened to all that?”  
The mention of her name by a voice in the crowd made his fingers tap, a little glad Arin stepped in to grab the question first.  
“Okay before I answer I am just gonna lay down one more ground rule that this will be the only question related to that we’re going to answer. We shut down that sub-reddit because Amalthea was able to find out who she was and, while she’s still working with us, would prefer to stay more private and behind the scene.”

“Yeah,” Dan decided to cut in “We do want to thank everyone out there who was searching with us for those answers alongside the police, all of you guys are awesome! But the mystery was solved and she wants to keep her life a little privet for now.”

“Will she be doing any AMA or coming to a Con or anything?”  
“Dude, what did Arin /just say/?” Dan teased.  
“Dunno, it’s up to her, she’s just wanting to do her thing and we’ll leave it at that.” Arin finished.

It was understanding that some of the fans would want to hear of the full conclusion of the “Amalthea Mystery” to know fully who she was before, and maybe who she was now. But since she’d decided she didn’t care and didn’t really want to know, throwing her legal name out there would just bring about more information than anyone wanted. Certainly there would be those who would keep searching for whatever reason but she was done and in respect to that, so were the Game Grumps.

He knew she wasn’t sleeping well while they were away. Even though he was tired he’d make a point to call her before he went to bed and although he knew usually she’d be asleep by then she’d stay up until he did, making a point to recall her day for him to ease his worries that she was getting lost, filling him with a sense of pride that she was doing well, sad to sometimes cut her off a little short because he was too tired to stay on the line that long. Sleepily slurring sweet adoring nothings to her until she giggled and told him to sleep.

“Thea?” He called out once he was in the door, back home and ready to drop but first wanting to get a snuggle. “Thea? Hey I’m home?”

Taking a deep breath to calm that immediate spike of worry he stuck his head into “her” room, although she didn’t really sleep in there anymore but they both felt having some privet space was good on occasion, before going into his.  
He grinned seeing her sprawled in the middle of his bed, amused to see her in one of his t-shirts, just swimming in it, eyes closed with his big noise cancelling headphones on, listening to music.

Making a point to stomp a little while he put down his bags so he didn’t startle her, (he knew that would end in him getting kicked) he waited until he saw one of her eyes open and she smiled. Moving between her legs, crawling up them and flopping on her with noisy neck kisses making her giggle and hug his head, pulling at his hair to get him to stop.

“Welcome home~” She sighed pulling him up for a kiss and getting a couple of smooches for her troubles.  
“Ugghh I am so tired.” He complained relaxing his full weight on her, snuggling to her chest one hand casually resting on her breast giving it a little squeeze while making a horn sound.  
She pulled his hair in retaliation but it did nothing to stop him.

“Did you have a good time?”  
“Yeah, it was fun, fans were great, got so many presents and stupid stuff and met a bunch of people.” Now the idle hand was trailing down, pulling up the hem of the shirt, feeling up her legs to find. “You’re… Not wearing anything under this.”  
“No-pe… But I mean if you’re tired and want to take a nap, we can just ta—“ She was cut off into a giggle as he pinched her bare ass.

His long legs were already off the side of the bed so it wasn’t much for him to slide down from the mattress on his knees, grabbing her legs and dragging her along with him, the T-shirt riding up to expose her fully as he did. Thea giggled and tried to pull it down to cover herself again but Dan caught her hands and held them to the sides of her legs.  
“I’m sorry, you lay here in my bed, in /my/ shirt, so wet I can already see it… And now we’re playing shy? I’m not buying it sweetheart.” He kissed the inside of her thigh not letting her hide herself from him. “Were you touching yourself while I was gone?” More kisses leading closer. “Or were you being a good girl and waiting for me?”

Digging her heels into his back Thea tried to pull Dan closer and herself down lower to his mouth. They’d not done anything beyond exploring hands still, but Thea had been reading a lot while he was away, and maybe a few of those novels were of the steamier variety leaving her with wants that she had to wait on until he got back.  
“I waited. I promise I waited, I wanted you to— I wanted—“ She gasped as he gave her exactly what she wanted, a burning hot tongue swiping a strip right over her centre.  
“Did you want this?” Dan asked, his voice a husky growl as he kissed and licked over her wet heat. “Wanted me to eat dat puss?”

If he hadn’t been still holding onto her hands she would have smacked him but she was stuck with an embarrassed giggle and a squeeze of his head between her legs.  
He laughed too, nipping at her while he guided her hands into his hair, pulling her by the legs to get a bit closer, lifting her hips into a position comfortable for him.  
His nose brushed her clit while his tongue slid into her hole, tasting her, eagerly drinking in her wet juices and breathy moans, himself groaning at every pull of his hair while she started to roll her hips trying to fuck his face. 

Pulling her up a little more, holding her hips steady he took her clit gently between his teeth, flicking his tongue over it increasing his speed as he felt her body tighten, hips fighting him in little jerking thrusts, and the sounds she made, usually so quiet but getting louder the closer she got, begging his name, pleading for him not to stop.

A broken cry, his ears actually hurt with how hard she was squeezing his head, all worth it as her entire body snapped tight, shuddered, and then melted. 

“Oh my god… Oh my sweet god.” She panted as he wiped his mouth clean on his shirt, pulling it off as well, feeling too warm now.  
“Usually I just go by Danny, but I’ll take it.” He joked laying back down next to her getting a little smack to the chest, capturing her violent hand and kissing the knuckles. “You okay?”  
“How tired are you?” She flipped the question on him and he shrugged.  
“A little but I ca—“ Thea pounced on him before he was able to finish, rolling over, pinning him down and kissing him, making a little sound when she could taste herself on his lips.

He didn’t stop her when she put her hand between them, rubbing his already hard cock through his jeans, pulling at his belt to get his pants down.

“Dan…” Her voice was low and sweet, even if her hands on his dick were still cold.  
He was learning to like it though.  
“Yes~” He teased tilting his head back while she nipped at his neck.  
“I wanna suck your cock.” Hotly whispered into his ear while she pinched the lobe with her teeth making him shiver.  
“O-oh god, yes please.”  
“I usually go by Thea, but I’ll take it.” She threw his joke right back at him making them both giggle stupidly before she slid off the bed herself tugging off the rest of his clothing with her.

“You know you don—“ Was about as far as he got before she took hold of his length and licked over the head silencing anything he had to say to assure her.  
She wanted this, she wanted him, and for Dan that was unbelievably hot.

Sitting up on his elbows Dan watched, grinning a little whenever he caught Thea’s eye as she looked up to see if she was doing well, to see him biting his lip, the flush of his cheeks, how his breath quickened and his eyes would close concentrating on his pleasure to her hands and mouth. 

Not really ready to try anything like deep throating Thea mostly focused on the head, jerking him off into her eager mouth, sucking and humming. She was glad Dan wasn’t a silent partner in this, his moans very telling but his stream of begging also very educating.

“Oh fuck baby right there, please just a little more, harder fuck yes fuck please like that.”

Stroking her hair careful to not pull or push or demand anything beyond what his voice could sweetly beg for he only tugged on her hair once grabbing her attention in warning.  
“Baby fuck I’m gonna…”  
Thea didn’t stop, just hummed around him letting him know she heard, letting him know she wanted it.  
With a final groan of her name Dan came into her mouth feeling an extra pulse of pleasure as he could feel her lips tighten around him, tongue working to swallow.

“Fuck girl… I gotta come back from trips more often if this is the greeting I get.” He joked as she made her way back up into his arms. “You okay?”  
“Yeah. I missed you and… I’m glad I could remember that you were gone enough to miss you. But I’d rather if you didn’t go away.”

Dan went quiet, this was one of those things that tended to end relationships with him. The women in his life wanting more of him than he had time to give. He bit his lip while Thea sighed and curled tighter to him.

“But I know you gotta do cons and you’ve got your own life and stuff. I can’t be a baby and demand all your time. Plus I had fun with everyone here while you were gone.”

Letting out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding Dan relaxed a little glad that Thea at least somewhat understood. He knew he’d feel the same way if he had a stationary job and she was the one travelling, he just hoped her feeling of compromise was one she’d remember. 

“Just remember I love you okay?”  
“I won’t ever forget that.”


	11. I promise I will not resist

“If they ask if we’re together should I say anything?”  
“Yeah just tell the truth, I mean I think most of the fans have kind of guessed by now considering I wasn’t doing ’Singles Train’ this year and I haven’t complained about my love life in quite-a-while now.”

Brian more than Dan had convinced me to do an AMA on facebook with Dan and him and Barry hovering in the background. Enough people had asked about me at the convention and since my sub-reddit had been shut down what with the ‘mystery solved’ the people who had been most vested in discovering who I was were antsy about what was going on and I agreed that it was a little unfair that I just fall off the face of the planet especially to people who cared for whatever reason.

They were announcing it on Reddit and fielding questions from there and also anything that popped up interesting from the chat feed on facebook as well, but mostly Brian, being the social media master he was, was responsible for picking the questions.

“Hey guys!”  
“Well hello there lovelies.”  
“Hiii?” I looked at Brian’s cellphone not certain about what I was interacting with as they moved the phone back to get all three of us in the shot. 

“Today we’re doing some Q right to your A’s featuring the Lady Amalthea because you demanded it internet!”  
“We’ll be A’ing up all your hot Q’s for sure.”  
Thea looked between the two men. “Do I need an adult?”  
“Probably.” Admitted Brian with a grin, “I’ve selected some questions already from reddit and twitter that people have been asking for you and then if we’ve got time we’ll do some on the spot questions assuming someone logs— oh hey we’ve already got 400 people okay! Lets get this started. Question number 1: How did you and Dan meet?”  
“He hit me with a car.”  
“NO! No I SAW you get hit with a car, Barry and I called the ambulance. Right Barry?”   
Brian panned the phone to Barry who looked over and nodded before panning back.  
“Vehicular manslaughter, very romantic.”  
“I’m not dead yet!”

“Question 2: Do you really have amnesia?”  
“YES. I have a combination of retrograde amnesia which super sucks, that’s the ‘hollywood amnesia’ where I can’t remember my past, and I mean I can remember some stuff, but none of it is useful and it’s hard to really know what I do and don’t remember because like, on a daily basis we’re not constantly recalling every event in our life it takes specific questions or connecting events to pull out specific memories. Anyway that and anterograde amnesia which means I have a hard time making new memories, that has been getting better over time as my brain is learning new ways to think around the damage that’s been done but I do have to constantly write things down or repeat things over and over before I can remember it and sometimes if things get stressful I’ll lose a day and yeah. It sucks.”  
“Sounds absolutely delightful.”  
“Like a nail to the head sure.”

“Um-ba-dum what’s it like having amnesia but you kind of answered that…”  
“It sucks.”  
Dan nodded heavily not wanting to say anything since it sucked for everyone but mostly Thea.

“Why did the reddit get shut down? Do you remember who you are? Yeah we all decided to shut down the sub-reddit for Amalthea after we discovered her legal name.”  
“Sorry guys, I didn’t want my legal name out there for people to keep looking into my past because, well— I don’t want to bother people who might not remember me anyway.”  
“I’ve said it before but I want to say it again, a huge thank you and shout out to the police and to all of you lovelies out there who have done so much to help us and Thea find out who she was, but a big part of shutting down the reddit is to just let you all know to stop looking, but this AMA is to just give closure to the mystery.” Dan added to the end of that.  
“I mean I still have memory problems but I’m really good where I am now and just don’t feel like searching for trouble if I don’t need to. But I wanted to do something to thank everyone who’s still curious about me.”

“And now to the juicy stuff because this question came up way to fucking often. Are you and Dan a thiiiiinnnggg?”  
There was a ‘ooOOoooo’ in the background along with a shouted ‘Thea and Dan sittin’ in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”  
Dan grinned and looked shocked as he found two fresh middle fingers under the table for Vernon and Arin.  
“Yes?” Thea asked looking at Dan with a small smile  
“Yes~” Dan leaned his head on hers.

“Ew, gross.” Brian deadpanned then looked at the facebook feed. “Holy shit this is exploding, everyone wants to know does Dan cry when he has sex.”  
Thea looked at Dan with a concerned face. “Is there something I should know?”  
“Guys… No… Ex-nay on the Cry-say.”  
“Is that a usual thing?”  
“Thea, just so you know, Dan is indeed a crier when he has sex, I’ve had to dry those tears many-a-times during our hot and steamy nights together.”  
“Brian NO. There have been no hot and steamy anythings.”  
Arin decided that was a good time to pop into the background “I can confirm, he gets really emotional in bed.”  
“ARIN NO.”   
“Tumblr you can quote me on that and take it to the bank.”  
“NO” Dan was trying to be angry but he was laughing too hard, Thea had put a hand over her mouth and was shaking only Brian able to keep a completely straight face although he was grinning.

“Hey Thea here’s a question, do you ever call Dan daddy?”  
“Brian no…”  
“Uhh noooo do you want me to call you Daddy?” Thea looked at Dan with an overly worried appearance on her face.  
“Thea please no.”  
“Thea please YES.”   
“Brian how about I just call you daddy?”  
“YES!”  
“NO!” Dan demanded  
“I dunno Daddy do you think your wife would be okay with me calling you Daddy?”  
“Guys, you have no idea how much I am enjoying this.”  
“Whelp I’m super grossed out now.” Dan got up pretending to leave.   
“No! Don’t leave me alone with Brian!!” Thea grabbed Dan and used him as leverage to get up as well the both of them now trying to escape.   
“Well there you have it, everyone calls me Daddy and I am very okay with that. 

Brian fielded a few more questions toward Thea and Dan, asking if there was anything specific she had to do because of her memory issues   
“Keep a regular schedule, write everything down.”  
What it was like for Dan living with her.  
“Make sure she keeps on her schedule, remind her to write stuff down. Honestly she remembers to do day to day things better that I do.”  
What it was like working with the Grumps.  
“Mostly weird, sometimes smelly… Well actually, mostly smelly, sometimes weird.”  
Would she ever come to a convention.  
“Probably not but never say never, I’d like to I just don’t know if I could handle it.”  
Sex questions were skipped over except asking her how she felt about polygrumps which she didn’t know about and when Brian explained it she seemed a little shocked. “There’s fanfiction of me?”  
“The lovelies are good about not doing it when they’re asked not to, would you like them not to?” Kevin threw in off to the side. “I’ve asked them not to put me in anything steamy and they’ve been really cool about that.”  
Thea thought about it for a moment. “I think I’m going to have to read some of this stuff before I make a call.”  
“Have I got one to start you off on!” Brian perked up with Dan crying “Nnnoooo!!!” trying to drag Thea away from him, ending the stream at that.

“Was that okay? Do you think that’ll be enough?”  
“Yeah it’ll be good, the lovelies are really cool and nice people so things will calm down.”  
“And I’ll send you some links for a few of the real juicy fanfics.” Brian offered.  
“OH I’ve got some good ones too!” Put in Vernon.  
Dan put his head on Thea’s with a grumbling whine. “God you guys fucking suck.”

“Make sure she gets one with lots of dicks in it!” Shouted Arin

Thea was looking forward to a few nights of reading.


	12. Honey I will stitch you

“What are you listening to lovely?”  
“Hm? Oh that band that you like I think, Hurry?”  
“Hurry?” Dan looked confused and caught Vernon’s eye who was looking up at the conversation.   
Vernon got it faster than Dan did and started to giggled, sliding out of his chair howling with laughter as Dan slowly caught on and started laughing too needing to kneel down to contain himself.

“What’s so funny?” Arin asked not hearing what Thea had said.  
“I don’t know, I just said that I was listening to that band Dan likes and then they both just lost it.”  
“Y-yeah, you know, my f-favourite band HURRY?” Dan spat out between breaths.  
Arin took a second with a curious “Hur-ry…?" before he got it and joined the other two men in their howling.

Thea threw up her hands and walked out seeing Ross now looking in from one of the recording rooms. “What’s going on with them?”  
“I don’t fucking know, they’re idiots. What’s Dan’s favourite band?”  
“I dunno, Rush I guess?”  
“… OH MY GOD, FUCK YOU GUYS.” Thea yelled at the three men who started laughing afresh. “YOUR MUSIC SUCKS ANYWAY DAN.”

Dan stopped laughing immediately “That is just mean and untrue.” before he couldn’t keep a straight face and kept giggling.   
“Nah, I’m with Thea, your music sucks Dan.” Ross put in just to push buttons with a grin.   
“What’s everyone laughing about?” Barry was now behind Ross wondering what was up with the noise.

Thea took the opportunity to get a hug from Barry whining at him “Dan’s being MEAN to me!”  
“Dan.” Barry put on his most adult voice.  
“I AM NOT!  
“He’s making fun of me!!”  
“Aww lets get you away from the bad man.” Barry patted Thea on the back guiding her into the recording room with him and Ross while she flipped Dan the bird as he protested that he was not being mean.

“Well she has memory problems, maybe that was a little mean.” Vernon admitted sheepishly.  
“But also fucking hilarious.” Arin pointed out with a shrug.  
“I’m sleeping on the sofa tonight aren’t I?” Questioned Dan.  
“Yup.” “Oh hell yeah bro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thea's quite likes "Hurry" but that's more to exposure due to Dan. She has been also known to enjoy such groups as "Cellulite Dijon with the sad boat song" "Cash Money, you know with a dollar sign in the name" and "ELMO? ALLO? YELLOW? Sings the Mr. Sun song."
> 
> She's really not good at band names.


	13. Honey I will meet you

Things got back into a rhythm for me.   
Wake up, cook, clean, work, exercise, shopping, weekend dates… 

While Dan’s schedule was a little full with conventions, working on music, playing games, shooting videos, he made a point to make time for me, for us to not just be together in the house but to go out and do proper 'date' things.   
He took me out dancing a few times, as spring ran into summer he took me to the beach with Arin and Suzie even though he refused to get within about 10 feet of the water, we all found out I have an ear for music too when we all went out for Karaoke, but that I never remember the titles or bands to any songs, instead just letting other people pick things for me and if I could sing it I would and if not someone else would grab the mike.   
Apparently I must have had some musical training at one point or another as one day while helping with recording a video I started playing with Brian’s keyboard and plunked out the melody for ‘Fur Elise’ even though I didn’t know the tune, Brian had recognized it.   
I could also do a few other songs that no one knew the names of but I could play with my eyes shut just relying on old muscle memory to drift through them. And then while I didn't know them from memory I plunked out the melody of a few songs that I just liked, slowly picking them out by ear.

Dan had asked afterward if I wanted to take lessons again but I shrugged and decided against it. A part of me was interested but I felt like it was just more things added to my day that I didn’t really need. I was still pretty content with how things were going and I was still edgy when it came to anything that brought about change.

Plus I couldn’t drive and didn't want to add anything to Dan's already hectic schedule.

It was something that bothered me a little, but there was no way that I was willing to get behind the wheel of a car. What if I was driving somewhere and lost time? What if I forgot where I was going? What if I started driving somewhere on mental autopilot and ended up someplace I didn’t know unable to get back?   
There was some other inner fear at play there I felt that was keeping me from getting behind the wheel of a car, maybe it was that I was hit by one, maybe it was something else from my past. Dan tried to push me a little bit towards it, driving the both of us out into the middle of nowhere and putting me in the driver's seat walking me through what to do and making me putter around.   
Maybe it was because he was just a bad teacher.  
He’d start out calm but would get giggly as he got agitated when I made mistakes, or would drive to fast, or too slow, and once he was laughing I was laughing too and I couldn’t laugh and drive at the same time. It was hard for me to multitask a lot of the times even for something like listening to his instructions and then doing them. It’s not like I had many places to go that I couldn’t get to by bike so possibly I wasn't trying very hard either.

Dan found it weird that I was more scared of driving than I was riding my bike considering I’d been hit once already but I preferred being on two wheels to four.

There were a lot of things that I hesitantly wanted to do and yet was not. Music, Driving…

Dan.

Mostly we just slept next to each other every night, occasionally finding pleasure with hands or mouth, and I knew Dan was being patient, more than willing to reject my feeble advances because he could tell I was nervous about having sex. 

“Hey, in your mind, this is going to be your first time, and that can be a big thing for a person. It took me years to lose my virginity so don’t worry I can wait as long as you need me to.”

He’d assure me of these things but I felt conflicted, scared of that intimacy, wanting it, feeling it was owed to him, being angry at myself for thinking that way, gratitude at his understanding, a growing ache of love in my chest that I just didn’t know how to express. 

Time passed, summer cycled, I was happy.


	14. Darling I will keep you in my heart

Dan was happy.

It always kind of scared him when things went so well. Like this much good couldn’t happen to one person without something bad comming to counterbalance it all, or like he was just dreaming and at any given moment he would wake up.

These were all probably residuals from when he had depression, it was a dark cloud that could be mastered but never really fully went away. A voice at the back of his head that he could ignore but never quite shut up telling him the lie that one day the other shoe was going to drop.

So he chose to embrace the joy he had because if shit was going to hit the fan then he would know he’d lived and done everything to the best of his ability. Continual happiness was something that needed to be worked toward, not something that just happened.

And boy was he working.

Work was great, they had filmed a bunch of videos and recorded loads of songs, he had a blast spending time with the members of TWRP, tour plans were being tossed around and they were all on edge for when their next CD would be finished, making plans for its release.   
Recording Game Grumps with Arin was always a blast and he loved that he could go to a job where he just laughed everyday.   
Things with Thea at home were quiet but in a really good way, they would go for walks, she would cook more often then him more out of habit than skill, they would go on little dates to new places. It was nice having someone to curl up with when he watched movies, someone to talk to and share his stupid thoughts or ideas with, someone who was supporting him as well as she could, as he tried to do in turn for her.

As fall came and plans for the winter holidays started being thrown around Dan was excited for the idea of being able to fly with Thea back to his parents home, not that he hadn’t somewhat enjoyed the car trip the year before but it had been a special kind of hell on his back and returning after taking that much time off was tough on everyone. Now that she had state ID and could fly it would shave almost two weeks off the trip.

“Gonna pop the question at your parents house?” Brian asked as it was getting closer to when they were going to go.  
“Pop wha— Noooooo.” Dan shook his head putting his hands up and taking a step back from that accusation.   
“Why not? You two have been living together for almost a year, Thea wants to change her legal name already, might as well go all the way and make it a Amalthea Avidan. Join the husbando club!”  
Brian looked over at Arin for some kind of confirmation but the younger man just shrugged and shook his head. “Don’t look at me dude, I dated Suz for like 10 years before we got married, you wanna go slow, you go slow bro.”  
“Thank you Arin.” Dan nodded towards his friend giving Brian a smug look before relaxing and getting a little thoughtful. “I mean it’s not that I haven’t thought about it…”  
“So?”  
“So… I dunno, we’ve got two albums coming out next year, maybe a third if we work hard, and we’re wanting to do tours and we’re planning that live show next year and just… Thea’s not big on change and I don’t think she’d be able to handle planning a wedding, I don't have the time at all, and I know my parents would want something kinda big and we still… I mean, well we still don’t know anything about Thea's family so maybe we should wait until she’s ready to find out what’s up with them because what if there is someone out there looking for her and they miss this big event in her life?”

“And you’re being a puss?” Brian bluntly teased.  
“Well YEAH that too.” Dan rolled his eyes. “But no, I mean maybe one day but just y’know I’m not in a rush I don’t think Thea is either.”  
“Tick-tock old man~”  
“Eat a dick Bri.”  
“Love you too.”

Dan had been thinking about it, but it was a big thing. If he’d met Thea 10 years ago there would be no question that he’d be looking at rings by now and maybe time had made him just a touch jaded, or maybe it just made him more steady in his life not wanting to take bold steps without being ready for the outcome, but he had time and no need to rush. He loved her, she loved him, what was a piece of metal and some fancy party to that?

Still surrounded by married friends it nagged at him just a little.

But not that much.


	15. You're never gonna put me down

Dan wasn’t a huge fan of flying. Sure it beat driving someplace far away, but even then he didn’t mind car trips that much, they were nostalgic and kind of fun, while flying tended to be bland, monotonous, and he’d just done it so many times he had the damn safety videos memorized.

The day instant teleportation became a thing he would be first in line for that.

But Thea? She was enamoured, excited by everything, from the scanners to seeing the airplanes in the window, watching them takeoff eagerly awaiting their turn to board, holding his arm and grinning as they sat down in their designated seats.

It was really… Really cute.

“Avi, Debbie, Deborah…” She looked out the window and listed off the names of Dan’s family members wanting to get everyone right this time around, excited to see them again.   
Dan snuck a picture of her looking out the window for himself and then pulled her in to take a silly picture for instagram. She’d started an account herself that he could post on if he chose, mostly since she would forget the password for it or leave her phone places, but she wanted to have her memories shared and somewhere they could be found so she wouldn’t disappear again.

It was looking to be the most fun flight Dan had had in a while…

Until the wheels of the plane left the ground and her smile dropped off her face.

“Ow… Hey babe yo—“ Dan looked over at her as the hand lightly gripping his arm suddenly turned into a sharp vice digging into his flesh even through his jacket. He stopped short and immediately grabbed one of the sick bags from the pocket in front of them as he saw her face had gone ashen. “Hey lovely, just breath.”  
He put a hand on hers trying to reassure her but her eyes slid shut and she whimpered as they hit a small patch of turbulence her jaw clenched.

“You think you might puke?”  
She nodded just a little.   
“Ohh baby.” He squeezed her hand in sympathy hoping she wouldn’t but making sure the airsick bag was open and ready for her the second she needed it. A part of him wanted to laugh but he felt like that would just be asking the universe to have her vomit right in his lap so he kept a lid on it.

Dan pulled the water bottle he bought in the airport out and pressed her to drink some, to help pop her ears and hopefully settle her stomach, making her take small sips through her clenched teeth trying his hardest not to laugh at her misfortune, tiny giggles masked as sounds of concern occasionally escaping from him.   
The flight attendant brought her some pretzels and ginger ale, giving her more of the same when it was time for the in-flight meal at which point she did stumble up the aisle to the toilet, the smell of food in the cabin finally doing her stomach in and demanding that it be emptied immediately. 

Luckily she passed out directly after that, coming awake with a sharp gasp and a muffled cry into her hand as the plane came down and her ears unexpectedly and painfully popped. Dan rubbed her back cooing soft sweet apologies at her, of course she had to be a poor flyer, what kind of luck would she have otherwise?

That spark of excitement was thoroughly dead once they touched down, Dan guiding a much more docile and miserable Thea to the exit where his parents were waiting to pick them up. 

“She might be off tomorrow.” Dan softly warned his mother seeing how Thea’s eyes would wander unfocused and confused, how her hand wouldn’t leave his, holding on a little tighter than usual. 

“Oh my poor baby, lets get you home.”


	16. (NSFW) Yeah I've been waiting all my life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :3c

The trip was good, Thea snapped out of her head pretty fast, remembering the worst parts of flying and arrival before she lost some time from being at the house, not that it mattered since she’d essentially fallen asleep in the car and gone right to sleep once she got into the house. 

Jetlag apparently hated her as much as being off the ground did.

They did things with the family, visiting and eating and travelling around to visit other people and do some touristy stuff. The time burned up quicker than either of them would have liked and while much less eager to get on an airplane the second time around now that they knew Thea would get airsick Dan prepared by getting her some medication which had her unconscious but with a settled stomach the entire trip back.

Getting home she curled up with Dan in bed, not letting him leave her side while she let her ears pop, stomach settle, and the general dizziness of medication fade from her system.

“M’sorry…” She mumbled, apologetic but with no intention of letting him go.  
“It’s okay babe,” He started up again rubbing circles on her back letting her cling as she needed, not minding at all. 

Christmas came and went without much of a stir although Thea did go to both Arin and Suzy as well as Ross and Holly’s place to help them decorate their tree’s and bake cookies, bringing back an assortment of treats for Dan who joked about her bringing him heathen gentile sacrilege in his Jewish home but then chasing her down when she threatened not to share.

As it neared New Years once again the both of them were invited to a few different events but with the unease of not working and wanting to do something special (because she REMEMBERED New Years was when they first ‘got together’ as a couple and the combination of that and her simply remembering it made her want it to be really special) she begged off asking that they just stay home and repeat the year before.   
Takeout and movies.

“I would say something about us acting like old people except we kind of ARE old people so…” Dan shrugged, his persona came across like he was a huge party guy but the reality of his life was that work was more than exciting enough, he had no problems having quiet nights at home being exceptionally boring if he could get away with it.  
“Well I know I’m full of excitement.”   
“Oh?”  
“Yeah, I’m spending a night with a really hot guy!”  
“Really? Damn lucky you. When’s he getting here?”  
She smacked his arm gently “Lucky him I’d say, I’ve got some super cute panties on right now.”  
“Oh?” Dan’s interest piqued even more, an eager grin on his lips as he looked at her. He noticed but hadn’t really given much thought to how she was dressed, usually she trended more towards casual wear but tonight she was scaled up just a touch, a pleated skirt that was just a little above the knee, a turtleneck made out of a soft material that begged for her to be cuddled, the mittens she was wearing made her look a little doofy but they were the ones he’d given her for the holidays since her fingers were always cold and he hoped this would get her to stop sticking them on him.  
“If he’s really good maybe I’ll let him see em.” She teased making her skirt flip a little as she turned to go into the living room to finish watching the movie that they’d started but paused for a snack and bathroom break. 

Following after now eyeing her legs wishing the level of her skirt was a lot higher Dan stood over her as she sat on the sofa looking up at him with false innocence.  
“And what would he have to do for that to happen?”  
“Oh I dunno, sit his tall ass down so I didn’t have to strain my neck to look at him.” She joked making Dan reach out to squish her face before flopping next to her on the sofa.  
“Anything else?”  
“Mmm give me all the best cuddles?”  
Arms around her, he gathered Thea up into his lap, fingers pushing her skirt up ‘on accident’ while he held her there.  
“Does my Lady demand anything more?” He continued to question, nuzzling against her neck placing soft kisses there while his wandering hands discovered her leggings were actually stockings and maybe she was wearing a garter belt.  
“All the kisses that he can give.”  
“As you wish.”

The hand that was exploring her leg came up to her cheek, turning her toward him so he could fulfill her request. Soft sweet kisses with his fingers gently trailing her cheek to hot demanding kisses, his hand holding her waist tightening, his other free hand not knowing where it wanted to go just that it wanted to touch all of her. Running down her back to her leg, pushing up her skirt higher (and she was wearing a garter belt with those stockings, a discovery that made him groan and shift under her.)

“I think you should take me to the bedroom.”   
“Mmn fuck, as my Lady commands.”

It took him two tries to get up off the sofa while hoisting her up with him making her giggle and call him ‘her hero’ as he carried her off.

As they got to the bed Thea could see Dan debating if he wanted to just toss her on the bed or not.  
“I swear to god Daniel…” She muttered giving one of his curls a threatening tug.

It was a hard choice, comedic appeal vs not wanting to sleep on the sofa.

Keeping the sigh of loss only in his mind Dan gently put Thea down, following after as she pulled him down on top of her, stripping one another of clothing as soft kisses and light laughter was shared.

“These are. /Very/ Nice.” Dan comments, sitting back to see how Thea had chosen to dress under her clothing. Cute and sexy, he’d seen the same lingerie online and had a feeling Suzie had her hand in this somewhere. Panties that were easily removed with nothing more than a tug of strings on her hips, stockings held up by a lacy garter belt, a cute bra with a cat head hole so her cleavage was visable. He appreciated that the accents on it were baby blue, flattered she’d remembered and chosen his favourite colour.   
“Did you go through the search history on my computer?”  
He might have looked at these online once or twice before himself.

“/I/ didn’t” She insisted, although that didn’t mean someone else hadn’t.

Running his hands up and down her thighs “Tell me what you want princess,” he inquires, aching to obey.

“Kiss me.”

He bends over her, soft teasing pecks, drawing her in to demand more, to kiss him as she wanted to be kissed. 

“Touch me.”

If it was an order it sounded more like a plea, but he needs no further encouragement as he cups her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her hardened nipples, fingers slipping under the bra to push it over her head. A sharp breath escapes her lips when his warm tongue meets her smooth skin, his mouth engulfing the tip, teeth nipping gently at her sensitive parts while letting his finger knead and roll so as not to let her other breast feel neglected. 

Her hand clutches at his scalp, massaging his head in a rythem similar to how his mouth moves over her, to how her hips are slowly rocking up against him.   
Mouth moving down with his hands he pulls at the strings on her hips, removing her panties and leaving her bare to him, finding the stockings and belt left on an absolute turn on. 

“No.”  
“No?” Dan stops as she pulls at his hair, preventing him from situating himself any lower between her legs, pushing himself up over her as she looks up at him. Face flushed, legs open, hands reaching for him.  
“I want you.”  
“Tell me how you want me?” He knows and a part of him just likes seeing her squirm a little, but he also wants to be sure.  
“I want you to make love to me.”  
Dipping down for a kiss to her lips he whispered a soft “As you wish” with a grin before silently cursing his massive bed as he then had to gracelessly crawl over and to the sound of Thea’s laughter (and his mumbled “shut up this is still romantic!”) dig through his drawer (and a second drawer before Thea sat up and informed him that she’d bought condoms and they were in the third drawer where she kept some of her stuff)  
“I found mine thank-you-very-much” Dan jokingly snaps before staring at them squinting with a frown.  
“They’re expired aren’t they?”  
“NO!” More squinting before he jut his chin out with a more confident. “No they are not! I’ve got until next month.”  
Stripping off his boxers, the mood already mostly dead he threw them at her head to stop her from laughing at him. Crawling back to her now with more tickling fingers and nipping mouth.

“What are you smiling at princess?”  
Thea shrugs, they’ve returned to where they were, him hovering over her, pulling him down for a kiss, tugging, wanting his body against hers.  
“I love you.”  
“I love you too.” 

Her eyes close briefly and she takes in a sharp breath as Dan feels how wet she is, easily sliding in two fingers, watching eagerly all her little reactions as he adds a third and her body reacts with lust and need and adoration for him. Feel her getting close before he pulls back, moving her hips up to line the tip of his cock to her entrance, careful as he pushes into her, watching for any sign of discomfort. 

Tight, wet, hot… all those were words he could use to describe the sensation of her around him. But they were not enough, no words were enough to cover the emotion welling in his chest that threatened to break him.  
“Gorgeous, fuck Thea, you’re so fucking gorgeous.”  
“Danny, please more.”

Gently he pulls out and pushes back into her, each thrust it becomes easier for her to take him in fully, the small of her back arching off the bed to meet him. Thea’s moans mix with his louder growls and muttered phrases of adoration. Each time she ground against him, her breathing hitched, his too large hands covering her breasts, smooth and soft mounds her nipples standing out hard against his palms. Hips moving faster as she softly moaned his name begging him not to stop, one hand slid down to tease at herself as he thrust into her making him close his eyes in concentration, the sight of her so close to release making it harder for him to hold out. 

It was a sweet noise, his name on her lips as he felt her tighten around him, her nails dig a little hard into the back of his neck, but it didn’t matter as he felt himself follow after, hips jerking with lost rythem and slowing as he came, rolling next to her and pulling her with him to hold her close while they caught their breath. 

Dan hated that he had to move, needed to remove the condom but jumped back into bed where Thea had also taken the time to pull off her stockings and get under the covers, greeting him with her eternally cold hands making him whine and hold them between his larger hands, blowing and kissing on her fingertips to warm them. 

“Are you okay?”  
“Mm-hmm… Are you?”  
“Fuck yeah… Happy New Year babe.”  
“Happy New Year love.”


	17. You're not a day you're not day too soon

Work restarted busier than ever as a lot of plans that were up in the air started to immediately fall into place. 

Thea started to get rides home with Suzy, or Barry, or whomever else was in the office leaving around the time that she would normally go at, Dan opting to stay later to work. When he did come home he’d crawl in bed with her to cuddle for a moment, before putting on his headphones and working more.

It bothered her the first few nights, being woken up and then ignored, and she’d roll closer biting at hips and fingers until Dan would put down his laptop and give her all his attention until she was too exhausted to bother him any longer falling into a satisfied sleep, sometimes with him joining her, but sometimes not. So she cuddled to his side, falling asleep to the gentle click of his keyboard, allowing him to do what he needed.

One point that neither of them would budge on was ‘date night’ not being cancelled. Sure their dates could consist of just laying at home doing nothing or going out with their friends, but for how hard Dan worked Thea bullied him to take at least one day, at minimum more than 12 hours, off where work wasn’t looked at or thought about making him relax. He agreed, needing the time off not to burn out either, but she was often the one who had to sit on him to keep him from breaking the no work policy as often he consistently had ‘just one more thing’ to finish up. But unless there was a convention (which then things did get rescheduled) from 6am until 6am the next day on one of the days of weekend she would take away his computer and hide his phone and they could do anything but work, heartily giving anyone who called him a little piece of her mind if they tried to convince him to come to the office on ‘her’ day.

“Shit.”  
He’d been searching for something shortly after they’d cleaned up breakfast, going through his drawers and pockets and heading outside to dig through his car before coming back inside looking sheepish.  
“What are you looking for?”  
“Uh… Nothing, but I think it’s at the office so…”  
“Daniel.” She gave him her best serious tone.  
“Amalthea.” He gave it right back.  
“It’s no work today.”  
“It’s not work.” He put out his bottom lip and gave her his best sad face. “It’s important, it’s for tonight.”  
Her eyes narrowed a little, she knew Dan well enough that in some things he was perfectly dependable, in others she wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw his lanky ass. 

Thea was uncertain which situation this was.

“It not some weird sex toy is it?”  
“No!” He looked genuinely shocked but then thoughtful. “I mean if you want to get into doing something like that we could go shopping first and I mean there are enough dildo’s just around the office for whatever reason. But I wouldn’t trust those.”  
“I am aware of how many dildos are around the office… Especially all the ones I work with.” She muttered the last part loud enough to just be heard.  
“What!”  
“What?” She looked at him innocently while he made a face at her getting her to giggle. “Fine, if it’s not work related then we can go pick up your thing that-is-not-a-sex-toy”  
“Thank you beautiful~ but really if you want to go shopping after for something fun…” 

She threw her sock at him.

—

“Barry…” Thea had followed Dan into the office where he head into the recording room to look for whatever he’d lost. Seeing Barry there she gave him her best scolding tone. “It’s your day off too Mister.”  
“Sorry sister, just wanted to get a little extra stuff done today since I had the extra time.”  
He pushed back from his desk accepting the hug she gave him and that she was now using his lap as a seat. A little awkward at times but she was extremely cuddly with everyone. “What are you two doing?”  
“Iiii Dunno. Dan forgot something here and insisted we come and get it.”  
“Oh? OH he did did he?” Barry looked over at Dan as he came out of the recording room with his hands in his jacket pocket.  
“What?”  
“Forgot your something?” Barry grinned making Thea look between the two of them suspiciously since Dan was now giving his friend ‘a look’ that screamed ‘shut up.’

Thea frowned and cuddled closer to Barry. “Barryyy Dan’s planning something and I’m scaaared.”  
“Gee /Dan/ what are you planning? My poor Amalthea is all worried!” Barry teased.  
“Noootthiiinnnggg… Thea my Lady, my light, my love.” Dan went down to a knee and held out his arms to her. “I swear on my honour and life I am not planning anything cruel or mischievous, listen not to this harry fiend—“  
“Hey!”  
“For there is no malice in my heart or mind only the tenderest of affections, now come into my arms my sweet and away from the clutches of that horrible man.”  
“HEY!”  
Thea’s hand fluttered over her chest. “Oh my sweet Daniel!” She sighed dramatically and threw herself into his arms while Barry just put his hands up in defeat.  
“Fine, leave me, I’ll just sit here and work. Alone. Sad.”  
“Oh darling Bartholomew. We love you too, like a lark loves the sky, as the grass loves the—“  
“Get out both of you, you guys are gross. Shoo, shoo” Barry kicked at Dan waving the two of them off.

—

Dan took Thea out for dinner trying a new place since she tended to like to go to new places (although even if he went to a place twice mostly she wouldn’t remember but it was an excuse for him to try new things too) he felt a little guilty that he was glad she’d forgotten what he’d picked up at the office but at least she wasn’t bothering him about it.

Going for a drive someplace quiet Thea groaned begging him not to make her drive tonight and although he teased that wasn’t what he had in mind. 

At a rest stop in the mountains they got out of the car and he got a blanket so they could sit, far enough away from the road to be safe but in a flat area that was comfortable watching as the sun started to go down.

Thea gripped Dan’s hand tight under the blanket, leaning on him with a sigh.  
“I want to remember this…”

“I want you to remember too… I…” Thea looked at Dan as his voice caught, a worried look on her face since he looked more serious than she could remember ever seeing him.  
“Dan? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing… I just— I love you, and I really do want to be with you.”  
“I love you too Dan.” She looked confused but that cleared into shock, covering her mouth to keep from letting out a scream as Dan moved away, pulling a small black box out of his pocket.  
“Always Thea, I want to be with you always.”  
It was a simple ring, Thea didn’t remember the conversation but Dan did, a while ago mentioned in passing that she wasn’t a fan of big rings (although she liked it when he wore them) that if she were to wear jewellery she’d want it small, simple, elegant.

“Oh Thea, Thea, don’t cry, don’t cry, say yes and don’t cry.” He begged her pulling her face close to pepper kisses along her cheeks and nose and eyelids  
“Yes, Dan oh my god ye—” He captured her lips, a smiling kiss, one she wouldn’t forget.

A memory locked in her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AWWW AWWWW ISN'T THAT A LOVELY END??? YEAH MAAAYBE HOLD THAT IN YOUR MIND FOR A LITTLE LONGER.
> 
> NO NO, TAKE YOUR TIME.
> 
> SAVOUR IT.
> 
> OKAY NOW THERE IS GOING TO BE A PART THREE.
> 
> YEAH MAYBE YOU DON'T WANNA READ IT.
> 
> YOU SURE?
> 
> HERE'S A LITTLE PREVIEW.
> 
> WARNING: I'M AN ASSHOLE.
> 
>  
> 
> "Dan, I got an e-mail for Thea..." Brian had been going through their NSP e-mail, deleting the spam and replying to fans.
> 
> "Yeah and?" It wasn't usual to still get messages from fans about her, people who had maybe found little tid-bits of information that might regard her.
> 
> "They used her legal name... He's offering to send pictures, recent ones."  
> "Well that's great, is he family or a friend?"
> 
>  
> 
> "He says... He's her husband."
> 
> OHHH SHIIIIIIIIIITTTT SON DAAAAAMMMNNN
> 
> IS THIS MYSTERY MAN THEA'S HUSBAND? IS HE A CREEPY STALKER? WILL DAN BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH ANOTHER MAN WHO KNOWS MORE ABOUT OUR MYSTERY WOMAN THAN HE EVER WILL?  
> FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON 'I'M AN ASSHOLE WHO LIKES TO HURT THE PEOPLE WHO READ MY STORIES'


End file.
